What makes RNH a step below Couturier and Landeskog?

[Andy Dufresne]

i love how people see couturier against guys older than him and in a game where there is no chemestry at all and is just really based on individual ability and come to the conclusion RHN is better..........

at the next level i would take couturier over RHN. Bigger, stronger, better hands IMO, better goal scorer and RHN might have the little edge playmaking wise but watch couturier in a team system and the guy is a different player all together...Couturiers defensive game is better, only thing RHN kills him at is skating.

You do realize that a lot of the posters talking up RNH see him regularly in the WHL right??
Based on individual ability??? I would hope that would be a strong point for any player taken in the top 10 of the NHL draft.

Players with great hockey sense tend to be able to create instant chemistry with each other in a format like this, the circumstances here weren't any worse for Couturier than they were for Hopkins. Maybe RNH had an edge playing with Bartschi and Phillips?
Even so....most here are talking UP Hopkins rather than talking DOWN Couturier.

I'd add that RNH 'killed' almost every other forward in that game at puck pursuit and anticipation, reading the play and then going and taking the puck back, that's a sign of both hockey sense and great work ethic imo.

 

[scoutman1]

You do realize that a lot of the posters talking up RNH see him regularly in the WHL right??
Based on individual ability??? I would hope that would be a strong point for any player taken in the top 10 of the NHL draft.

Players with great hockey sense tend to be able to create instant chemistry with each other in a format like this, the circumstances here weren't any worse for Couturier than they were for Hopkins. Maybe RNH had an edge playing with Bartschi and Phillips?
Even so....most here are talking UP Hopkins rather than talking DOWN Couturier.

I'd add that RNH 'killed' almost every other forward in that game at puck pursuit and anticipation, reading the play and then going and taking the puck back, that's a sign of both hockey sense and great work ethic imo.

you know they might have seen Hopkins which means they saw less of Courturier...you know I saw Brad Richards at camps in the Maritimes here and (A) - one game does not tell you the make or break of a player and (B) - some players play BETTER in a system...Tomas Jurco is an amazing individual player who would do well on a game where the teams are thrown together and individual skill is what shines through (individual skill meaning ability to carry the puck down the ice, and create it all yourself)...but THEN you have players like a Couturier, who know there limitations with skating and it is not even top end speed it is his sluggish acceleration not speed wise, but he knows how to play the game with his weakness and turns his weakness into a strength at times by knowing what to do in fast amount of time and with little room to do it, Couturier is better when he learns his teammates, knows where they are, gets the read on there game, he is a magician with the puck, great shooting and passing and sees the game at a different level...Afinogenov in the NHL is a great individual player...Brad Richards is a team player guy who does better when he gets his teammates games down.

I never said Hopkins is a bad player either, I love the guy, I am stating I think Couturier is the guy I would pick...I was making a statement a lot of people on here see Hopkins a lot but never see Couturier, so hard to make judgement from the world juniors or a prospects game. Not once though did I saw anything about not putting Hopkins up in the top 4 or 3 guys for the draft...but my point was people are fast to make judgement about flipping the two and putting Couturier down to 4th overall due to what they saw on TV...that is actually what I was saying with my comment.

 

[Dr.Sens(e)]

I'd add that RNH 'killed' almost every other forward in that game at puck pursuit and anticipation, reading the play and then going and taking the puck back, that's a sign of both hockey sense and great work ethic imo.

I've said RNH was one of the better forwards last night, but it was by taking advantage of opportunities. But what you are saying here is just not in line with reality. He was hardly stealing the puck and owning the ice every time he was on it. In fact, the first 10 minutes he was completely invisible as Team cherry dominated, and even the rest of the 1st, he really didn't do anything. This actually wasn't his fault, as that's just the way the ice tilts some times. It's a team game. A forward can only put himself in position to get the puck, but someone typically has to help you in getting it. I felt this was what Strome and Couturier experienced a bit in the 2nd and 3rd periods (that, and watching Murphy skate by them on solo rushes). And like most offensive forwards, RNH had a few give-aways too. As he should, trying to make plays.

I'm not really sure what "killed" means, but if you mean dominated, I think think that is accurate at all. I liked RNH last night and he gets full props - he had several nice passes and played well. But many (including a few scouts) thought other forwards were equally good or slightly better last night. It was that kind of night where no one really dominated. Well, other than the team in white.